Electric lighting fixture



April 27, 1943. D ER 2,317,434

ELECTRIC LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed May 28, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 27, 1943.

D. J. BILLER ELECTRIC LIGHTING FIXIURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1942 w r N 6 M 1/15 flrroRn/EKS.

Patented Apr. 27. 1943 ELECTRIC LIGHTING. FIXTURE David J. Billet, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Day- Brite Lighting, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application May as, 1942, Serial No. 444,828

3 Claims. (01. 240-78) This invention relates to electric lighting flxtures, particularly fluorescent lighting fixtures of the type wherein the lampholders and the holders for the lamp starting switches are supported in an inverted channel-shaped wiring housing and the reflector is secured to and closes the bottom of said channel. The principal object of the present invention is to improve the means for supporting the lamp and starter holders in and the reflector from the wiring channel of the flxture. Other objects are simplicity and cheapness cf construction and compactness of design. The invention consists in the fluorescent lighting fixture and in the construction combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. l is a central vertical longitudinal section through a fluorescent lighting flxture embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the reflector detached from the wiring housing,

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through said fixture on the line 33 in Fig.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the wiring housing and In the accompanying drawings, my invention is shown embodied in a fluorescent lighting flx-- ture comprising an inverted channel-shaped wiring housing A with end closures or caps B, an inverted channel-shaped open end reflector C disposed beneath and longitudinally of said chan nel and closing the bottom thereof, and spaced parallel tubular fluorescent or electric discharge lamps D extending lengthwise of said reflector in the upper portion thereof. As shown in the drawings, the wiring channel A has inwardly bent flanges I along the lower edges of its side walls. Similar inturned flanges 2 are also formed along the lower edges of the end closures or caps B for the wiring channel A.

Located in the wiring channel A at the ends thereof are bridge or saddle pieces or plates E that span from side to side of the channel A and rest on the inturned lower side marginal flanges I thereof and on the inturned lower marginal flanges 2 of the end closures or cap B for said channel. Each of the saddles E is held in place in the channel A by quick detachable fasteners in the form of snap-fasteners 3 that extend through registering holes provided therefor in the side walls of said'channel and in upstanding flanges 4 on the adjacent edges of said saddles.

Lampholders 5 seat on and are secured by means of screws 6 to the saddle or bridge pieces E. The lampholders 5 have depending portions 1 that extend downwardly through registering openings 8 provided therefor in the bridge pieces E and in the reflector C and are adapted to receive and support the ends ofthe lamps D. The lampholders at one end of the fixtures have lateral extensions 9 that are disposed above the bridge member at that end of the fixture and provide downwardly opening sockets or holders for lamp starting switches III, which are inserted in and removable from said sockets through registering holes H in said bridge member and reflector- The reflector C is rigidly clamped flatwise against undersides of. therlower side marginal flanges l of the wiring channel A and the lower marginal flanges of the end caps B by fasteners comprising nuts l2 that are carried by said reflector and cooperates with threaded studs l3 that are rigid with and depend from the respective bridge pieces E in said channel. As shown in the drawings, the stud supporting portion of each bridge piece E has a downwardly opening channel l4 pressed therein in the underside thereof which extends crosswise of the wiring channel A from side flanges to side flange thereof and decreases in depth from its middle towards its ends. The threaded stud l3, carried by each bridge piece is centrally located in the channel l4 therein and is welded or otherwise permanently secured to the top wall of said channel. The

nut l2, which cooperates with each of the threaded studs l3, extends upwardly through a hole IS in the reflector C into the stud supporting channel l4 and is provided above the top wall of said reflector with a c-shaped retaining washer it, which seats in an annular groove H in said nut, and below said top wall with an enlarged diskshaped head 18 that is of larger diameter than said hole and has diametrically opposed finger or thumb pieces I!) depending from its underside.

By the arrangement described, access may be had to the interior of the wiring channel A merely by removing the lamps D from the depending portions 1 of the lampholders 5 and detaching the nuts H from the threaded studs I3 carried by the bridge pieces E without disturbing said bridge pieces and lampholders or the starters Ill. The nuts 12 are loosely retained in the openings IS in the reflector C by the heads l8 of said nuts and the C-washers l5, thereby preventing loss of the nuts and facilitating the engagement thereof with the threaded studs IS. The channel-shaped stud supporting portions ll of the bridge pieces E provide space for the studs l3 and the C-washer I Obviously, the hereinbefore described lightingflxture admits of considerable modification without departing from the invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction shown and described, except as required by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A fluorescent lighting fixture comprisin an elongated wiring housing of substantially inverted channel-shaped section with inturned flanges at the lower edges of its side walls, spaced bridge members spanning from side flange to side flange of said housing and sustained thereby, said bridge members having upstanding downwardly opening hollow ribs therein extending crosswise of said housing substantially from side flange to side flange thereof, a reflector of inverted channel-shaped section disposed beneath and closing the bottom of said wiring housing, said reflector having vertical openings in the top wall thereof, threaded studs depending from said bridge members, and nuts loosely retained in the openings in the top of said reflector and extending thereabove into said hollow ribs and engageabie with said studs, the retaining means for said nuts comprising heads on the lower ends thereof and washers on the upper ends thereof adapted to be accommodated within said hollow ribs.

2. A lighting fixture comprising an elongated wiring housing having an opening in the bottom thereof extending substantially from end to end thereof, bridge members supported in said housing at the ends thereof and spanning from side to side of the opening therein, said bridge members having upstanding downwardly opening hollow ribs therein disposed crosswise of said opening, a downwardly opening reflector disposed beneath said housing and closing the opening in the bottom thereof, studs rigid with and depending from the tops of the hollow ribs in said bridge members, and nuts loosely mounted in the top of said reflector and extending thereabove into said hollow ribs and engageable with said studs.

3. A fluorescent lighting fixture comprising an elongated wiring housing of substantially inverted channel-shaped section, spaced bridge members spanning said housing from side to side thereof and supported thereby, said bridge members having upstanding downwardly opening hollow ribs therein extending substantially from side to side of said housing, a reflector of substantially in-, verted channel-shaped section disposed beneath and closing the bottom of said wiring housing, lampholders supported on said bridge pieces at one side of said hollow ribs and having lamp supporting sockets extending downwardly into said reflector through openings provided therefor in the latter and in said bridge pieces, some of said lampholders having starting switch sockets therein, starter switches engaging said last mentioned sockets through openings provided therefor in i said reflector and in the supporting bridge for said last mentioned lampholders, and means for removably securing said reflector to said bridge pieces, said means comprising studs depending from and rigid with the top of the hollow ribs of said bridge members, and nuts loosely retained in said reflector and extending thereabove into said hollow ribs and cooperating with said studs.

DAVID J. BILLER. 

